Amelia Earhart - Anita

• Amelia Earhart was a famous record breaking female pilot that was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. When she was growing up, her father was a lawyer and she would always play with her little sister Muriel. While growing up, Amelia loved adventures. She would collect insects and frogs and play football and baseball. She even liked to hunt rats with a rifle! Amelia's first flight was when she was seven years old, but it didn't go well. Later on, at the age of eleven in 1908, Amelia went to the Iowa State Fair and saw many of the Wright brother's planes, but didn't find any interest in them.
• When Amelia graduated from high school, she wasn't sure what occupation to take on. At first she went to Ogontz School in Pennsylvania, but soon dropped to become a nurse for injured World War 1 soldiers. After that, she studied to become a mechanic, but went back to school to study for a career in medicine. That was until she started flying.
• On December 28, 1920 Amelia and her father went to an air show in California where she took her second flight. She loved it so much, she used her saved money to pay for flying lessons. Later on, she bought a small, bright yellow plane which she named the "Canary." She also got her pilot's license and set a new altitude record of 14,000 feet for female pilots.
• In 1928, Amelia took the plane "Friendship" across the Atlantic with pilot Bill Stultz and co - pilot Slim Gordon. Amelia was the navigator. On June 18, after twenty one hours of flying, they landed Wales. Amelia was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, but she didn't stop there. She wanted to go across the Atlantic again, but this time pilot the plane herself. On May 20, 1932, Amelia took off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in a small, bright red, one engine, Lockheed Vega Plane. She intended to land in Paris, France. The weather was very bad, from storm clouds to ice sticking to her plane. After fourteen hours of flight, Amelia crossed the Atlantic, but had to cut the flight short, landing in a cow pasture in Londonerry, Northern Ireland. This time she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo.
• But Amelia still wasn't satisfied. In June of 1937, Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami, Florida and were determined to fly across the world. They flew a number of flights, eventually reaching New Guinea, Africa. On June 2, they took off from New Guinea to fly to Howland Island in the Pacific, but they were never seen again.